Want to buy, does year really matter?

[Izzy181]

Hi all
Been looking for an XJ and 95% of the time when I find an ok one it's an '00 or '01
I keep reading a lot of horror stories from these two years. Would you keep searching for an 98 or 99 or are they all pretty good because the issues have probably already been fixed.

Thanks

[prerunner1982]

I am not a fan of the 00 and 01s either because of their known head cracking...however, when I needed another vehicle the best one I found for the money I had was a 2000 with 214K miles. Now nearing 217K it runs great, has a few issues here and there but it is 16 almost 17 years old so that is to be expected.
A head swap/replacement doesn't scare me, but I work 7 days a week so the time the Jeep would be down is an issue. Depending what next years tax return brings and what's available the 2000 XJ may go to my daughter who will be turning 16.

[cpttuna]

We have 2 01's and an 00 in the family with no problems. We have had the one 01 for 12.5 years. Yes it has been watched and taken care of. My only comment. if the cracked head problem had been that significant, don't you think there would have been a total recall to fix the head?

[Mudderoy]

Yeah it's not a ticking time bomb, just something to know about going in.

[XJ Wheeler]

Just keep an eye on the temp and keep it from overhearing is key. They're fine as long as they don't get too hot. They did change a couple other things for 00-01. They went to distributor-less ignition, and got a low pinion front axle instead of high pinion.

Sent via messenger pigeon. I talk, he types.

[denverd1]

it's a 400 problem and takes a few hours to fix if its cracked or develops one. don't let that scare you off the right jeep.

what are your plans? daily duty or off road? both? the front axle problem is only an issue when you start pushing it offroad with bigger tires. again, an easy fix with tons of options

[cpttuna]

They are getting harder to find. What kind of shape they are in just mught take preference over finding a particular year.

[denverd1]

Find a Jeep?

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